The prospect of Pat Cummins being fit for the first Test of the Ashes appears not so promising after the Australian captain spoke about his back injury on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, chairman of selectors George Bailey all but guaranteed Cummins would be fit to take on England in the series-opener after it was revealed he was struggling with a "hot spot" in his back.
But Cummins has since spoken about his injury with far less assurance just over two months out from the opening Test, to be played in Perth from November 21.
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"That would be devastating," Cummins said when asked if there was a possibility he may not play in Perth.
"We'll be doing everything we can to be right for that, [and] make a few decisions a little bit closer, but [I'm] confident we'll do the rehab right and give it a good crack.
"This far out it's hard to know, but we're trying to make sure we're doing everything right to be right for Perth.
"It's a big Ashes series, [it] doesn't get much bigger, so you're willing to be aggressive and take a few risks to try to play as much of the Tests as you can."
Cummins also revealed the back scan he had on Monday was the second he'd undergone since touring the West Indies across June and July.
He's been cleared of a fracture but the "hot spot" has him under an injury cloud.
"[I] was a little bit sore after the West Indies [tour], had a scan, [and] there was a little bit going on, gave it another month, [and I] have had a bit of a quiet month to help it settle down," Cummins said.
"[I] had another scan on Monday, which was not terrible, but enough to know there's a little bit there and [that I] need to be careful for the next little bit. It doesn't feel too bad, but I'm not bowling or doing much at the moment.
"Sometimes you may just get unlucky and you bowl lots of overs in, say, the World Test Championship final, and that's enough to start it, but through the West Indies [tour] I felt like it was a little sore, but nothing [unusual] for a fast bowler.
"But once you get home and everything settles down, it hung around a little bit."
Back and foot injuries plagued Cummins early in his Test career.
The fast bowler famously took a six-wicket haul as an 18-year-old on his Test debut in Johannesburg in 2011, but he did not play another Test until 2017.
He's had few injury problems since then, which has allowed him to take his tally of Test wickets to 309 from 71 matches, and become one of the most feared and revered quicks in the world.
Major question marks are lingering over Australia's batting ahead of the Ashes, but in Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, Australia has a much-vaunted bowling attack.
"I think I've been really lucky [that] the last seven or eight years I haven't really had much, so I missed the odd Test match here or there, but no real thing," Cummins said.
"In 2018 I had a full-blown stress fracture that kept me out for an off-season.
"But I've had a really good run as fast bowling goes, and I've been really well looked after, which has got me through this many Tests.
"I've bowled a lot over the last few years, something was bound to happen at some point, but hopefully get this right and don't miss too much cricket."
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